A ''pièce montée'' (pronounced ; from French, literally "assembled piece" or "mounted piece",

plural The plural (sometimes abbreviated pl., pl, or ), in many languages, is one of the values of the grammatical category of number. The plural of a noun typically denotes a quantity greater than the default quantity represented by that noun. This de ...

''pièces montées'') is a kind of decorative

confectionery Confectionery is the art of making confections, which are food items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates. Exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confectionery is divided into two broad and somewhat overlapping categories ...

centerpiece in an architectural or sculptural form used for formal banquets and made of such ingredients as "confectioner’s paste" (also known as ''pâté d'office''),

nougat Nougat ( , ; ; az, nuqa; fa, نوقا) is a family of confections made with sugar or honey, roasted nuts (almonds, walnuts, pistachios, hazelnuts, and macadamia nuts are common), whipped egg whites, and sometimes chopped candied fruit. The c ...

marzipan Marzipan is a confectionery, confection consisting primarily of sugar, honey, and almond meal (ground almonds), sometimes augmented with almond oil or extract. It is often made into Confectionery, sweets; common uses are chocolate-covered marzi ...

, and spun sugar. Although the ingredients are typically edible, their purpose is mainly decorative, and they are often not meant to be consumed. They are associated with classical French chefs, such as Carême. Carême had studied architecture, and is credited with saying, referring to ''pièces montées'', that

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

is the most noble of the arts, and pastry the highest form of architecture. The term ''pièce montée'' is sometimes used to refer to the dessert also known as ''

croquembouche A ''croquembouche'' () or ''croque-en-bouche'' is a French dessert consisting of choux pastry puffs piled into a cone and bound with threads of caramel. In Italy and France, it is often served at weddings, baptisms and first communions. Name ...

'', an assemblage of

choux pastry Choux pastry, or (), is a delicate pastry dough used in many pastries. Basic ingredients usually only include butter, water, flour and eggs (auxiliary ingredients and flavorings are also added). Instead of a raising agent, choux pastry employs ...

profiterole A profiterole (), cream puff (US), or ''chou à la crème'' () is a filled French and Italian choux pastry ball with a typically sweet and moist filling of whipped cream, custard, pastry cream, or ice cream. The puffs may be decorated or left p ...

s (or occasionally other kinds of pastry) stuck together with

caramel Caramel ( or ) is an orange-brown confectionery product made by heating a range of sugars. It can be used as a flavoring in puddings and desserts, as a filling in bonbons, or as a topping for ice cream and custard. The process of caramelizatio ...

or with spun sugar into a tall, usually

conical A cone is a three-dimensional geometric shape that tapers smoothly from a flat base (frequently, though not necessarily, circular) to a point called the apex or vertex. A cone is formed by a set of line segments, half-lines, or lines conn ...

shape. Unlike the type of ''pièce montée'' described above, it is meant to be eaten; in France, traditionally it is served at parties that celebrate weddings and baptisms.

See also

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